Picture Book Round-Up: Sounds

A book about a little brown bird who wants to say more than is expected of it, and finds this possible. Inspiring other birds to break free of their normal repertoire, this book is full of silly sounds and has the beginnings of a social justice bent in the don’t let others’ expectations for you limit your possibilities sort of way.

I found this book fun, but not overwhelming by any means. I think it will delight.

Another book about birds of all sorts saying odd things. The birds in Telephone are anthropomorphic, resembling kids hanging out at the playground and baseball field. The premise is simple: Peter’s mother sends along a message for him to fly home for supper, and as the message is passed from bird to bird, it twists to something new, as in a classic game of telephone. What makes this interesting is that what each bird says (or hears, for that matter) is related to his/her own interests. I think this is fascinating from an adult perspective on “hearing what you want to hear.” Don’t worry, Peter finally gets the right message (from an owl, of course).

Tap Tap Boom Boom is based on events seen by the author on a rainy day in New York. A sudden storm erupts, sending community members to congregate in the subway, performing random acts of kindness and creating friendships with strangers.

Rhyming text.

I really enjoyed some of the illustrations, which often merge photographs of NYC with illustrations overlaid. It creates a lovely mix of materials and gives the book a particular sense of place.

I have already made two other adults who are not librarians read this book. One was a teacher, and the other I made read it to me out loud. :)

I had NO IDEA what I was getting into when I started reading The Farmer’s Away! Baa! Neigh! Not a standard farm-animal text, the entire text of the book is made of animal noises, and not only that, they rhyme. When the farmer’s away, the animals do all sorts of crazy activities, but they definitely do not want to be caught. I think this will be a classic, and fans of Seuss and other nonsensical rhymes will get a big kick out of this one.